PRITI PARIHAR Vs. FLT LT KAILASH SINGH PARIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal by a wife, who is defending a suit for judicial separation under the Hindu Marriage Act (hereinafter called "the Act") in the Court of the District Judge, Jodhpur, directed against the judgment of the learned single Judge dated July 4, 1973, who summarily dismissed her appeal, wherein she had claimed additional expenses from her husband under sec. 24 of the Act.

(2.) IN S. B. Civil Misc. Appeal No. 49/72 this Court had allowed a sum of Rs. 500/-to the wife for meeting her expenses of the litigation by its order dated 6-4-1972. The wife urged before the trial Court by an application dated 4-4-73 that in order to defend herself she had to go up to the High Court twice. Apart from this expenditure, several applications were moved by her before the trial Court, besides the petitioner having amended his petition she had to amend her written statement and she had thus incurred expenditure to the extent of Rs. 765/-, which sum did not include the professional fees of the lawyers for the trial Court. The learned District Judge observed, reading the order dated 6-4-72 passed by this Court, that it "conclusively determined the right of the non-petitioner to claim expenses to contest and defend this matrimonial case. . . . . . . . . . . . and the expenses now claimed by her are unreasonable. There should be some limit to the budget of expenses in such cases. " Dis-satisfied the wife preferred an appeal and the learned single Judge found that no case was made out for increasing the amount of expenses in trial court awarded by this Court on 6-4-72 and the appeal was summarily dismissed and the wife is before us in special appeal.

(3.) THE learned counsel for the respondent also urged that the wife is possessed of sufficient means. We are not inclined to open this question in this appeal because the question whether the wife was entitled to expense or not stood settled on 6-4-1972.